NATIONAL rowing coach Edgar Maerina disclosed that they have three promising new female recruits — two from college and one from Zamboanga — that he will groom to compete in future major international meets, including the 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian Games in May next year.
“We have Faiza Linton from UST, Alyssa Go from Ateneo and Christine Faraon from Zamboanga. All of them are tall and have nice physiques for rowing. They are all very promising,” Maerina said.
He said that Faraon, Go and Linton have joined the rest of the national team members currently working out since August at their training facility at the La Mesa Dam reservoir in Quezon City.
Maerina added their entry into the team was timely since he had temporarily released 2019 Southeast Asian Games women’s lightweight sculls gold medalist Joanie del Gaco, who is applying for the Philippine Army.
“Joanie expressed her desire to enlist in the Army so we released her in the meantime,” Maerina said, adding that Melcah Caballero also went back to the Navy.
Maerina said that Tokyo Olympic Games veteran Cris Nievarez was given some time off for vacation in his hometown of Atimonan, Quezon but returned at the training camp last month.
Aside from three female rowers and Nievarez, also at the La Mesa Dam training camp are Roque Abala, Zuriel Sumintac, Edgar Ilas, Christian Joseph Jasmin, Athens Tolentino, son of Sydney Olympian Benjie Tolentino; and Van Maxilom.
Maerina said they train from Monday to Saturday using the program left by Uzbek mentor Shukrat Ganiev.
The rowers were given a break last weekend so they could pay respects to their departed loved ones.
“But before we let them go, they underwent screening because we will start evaluating them for next year’s competitions, including the Vietnam SEA Games and Hangzhou Asian Games,” Maerina said.
He said the rowers had wanted to see action in the Asian rowing championships in Thailand next month but rowing chief Pato Gregorio decided to defer the national team’s overseas competitions until next year.
A former national team standout and SEA Games gold medalist, Maerina said they would work doubly hard for the Vietnam SEA Games rowing competitions that will have a total of 16 gold medals up for grabs in contrast to the six events held in the 2019 Philippine edition.
“Vietnam is really keen on capturing gold medals so they made it a total of 16 events,” he noted.
Maerina said he is banking on his charges to figure in the men’s and women’s singles lightweight sculls, where Nievarez and Caballero are the defending champions, as well as the women’s lightweight double sculls that Caballero and Del Gaco topped in the 2019 SEA Games.
